Mixer for petroleum oil refining



Oct. 31, 1933. Q ERICKSQN 1,932,655

MIXER FOR PETROLEUM OIL REFINING Filed Sept. 18, 1950 Patented Oct. 31, 1933 1 1,932,655

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NHXER FOR PETROLEUM OIL REFINING Cyril L. Erickson, Whiting, 11111., assignor to Standard Oil Company, Chicago, 111., a. corporation of Indiana i Application September 18,1930 Serial No. 482,695

6 Claims. (Cl. 196-46) "'3 This invention pertains to orifice mixers which place f disposal d cgmprises a ti 2 may be used for various purposes and more parwhich may be a part of the pipe line proper, tifiu a y to a mixing device su t for efiectand three substantially identical and inter ing a thorou h a d homogeneflus miXing, changeable sections 3, 4 and 5. The flow of tacting or intermineline o immiscible materials, fluid to be treated is indicated by the large etso at least one of whichis in a fluid state. The row, t t is, fremseetion 2 t ti 5 improved mixing de e y be very advanjet or pipe 6 projects radially through an open t e ously used in petroleum r fini Operations ing in the wall of section 2 just ahead of the as in Cases W re t is necessary treat 011 section 3 and opens at 7 somewhat against the 10 With relatively small amounts of non-miscible flow of material to be treated but substantially 65;

reagents such as Su u acid, Water, alkali, at the center of the stream. The treating masOd m plumbite solution and the liketerial may be forced under pressure through In my pri Pa t #598,432, dated Januthe pipe 6 and out of the orifice 7 into the flowy 1929, I have described an analogous ing stream of material passing there-through;

Vice ul for t sa u p to which the Each of the sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 may be conw instant device may be p This Prior device nected to its adjacent sections by means of s so expensive to manufacture and has flanges 8 together with bolts or the like or may other disadvantages, although it is very useful be Otherwise suitably connected, as 11 be m. for its purposes. One of the primary Objects preciated. Each of the sections 3, 4 and 5 may of the present invention is to provide a mixer be formed frem an Ordinary piece of pipe of which Will be V y simple in Construction and proper strength and dimensions but preferably of Operatifln and which may be mahufahtured at steel or similar material which may be welded. a a y small 00513- e Within each of the sections 3, 4 and 5, a sub- AIlOtheI' Object is to Provide a mixer 50 stantially cone shaped foraminous element 9 is 25 Slim-Chad and arranged that it may readily be disposed with its axis substantially coincident taken apart, Cleaned, repaired and replaced with with the axis of the section and is held therein the greatest facility, In the connection the in fi ed position in any suitable manner miXel" in its Preferred r is made in a although, because of simplicity of construction, rality of interchangeable, readily removable SEC. Welding, as indicated t 11, is preferred. The

30 510115 adapted to be Placed in an Ordinary pipe conical mixing elements may be made of sheet line the likemetal, as illustrated in Fig, 2. As shown in this Still another object is to provide a mixer in figure the t, may b h t tal stampwhich the treating material may be introduced mg provided with a reesoneme number of substantially into the center of the stream of ings 12 through which th t ieJ t be mixed 35 material that is to be treatedare forced to pass. The number of apertures Many further Objects including the provision and their size, arrangement, form, and location of means for determining the pressure in a may vary depending upon the materials to be section or portion and the differential pressure treated, upon th pressures and other features between sections portions, Will be Should which should be well understood by those skilled become clearly apparent and understood after in the m After t cone has b punched reading the following description and claims and out it is fermed argund i t ne shape and after Veiwing the drawing in which: its edges welded or otherwise secured together.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through A central cap 13, which may be perforated a preferred form of miXiIlg device Constructed imperforate, is welded, soldered or otherwise 45 in accordance With the invention. connected} to t walls of t cone, Fi 2 is a developed P One o the In order to determine the pressure in any secpe d Cone elements used in the mixertion of the mixer and thediii'erential pressure as 3 is a V w s m a '00 1 Of a odibetween sections, each section (3, 4 and 5) may fled. form of mixing v e, and be provided with a short length of small piping 0 Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the'swirl proor tubing 14 adapted to be. connected into a du e ts used in the modified form manifold pipe or tube 15 to the center of which sh n 3- a connection'16 for a pressure gauge is coupled.

Referring first. to Figs. 1 and 2, the mixer A valve 17 may be placed in the manifold betherein illustrated is adapted to be coupled in tween the section 3 and the connection 16 and apipe line leading to a settling tank or other likewise a valve 18 may be placed in the manifold between the section 5 and the connection 16, while a valve 19 may be placed between the gauge or connection 16 and the section 4. A valve 21 may be put in the line between the connection 16 and the manifold. Should it be desired to obtain the pressure in any section, the valves to the other sections will be closed and the valve to the particular section will be open. In this way pressure and other conditions may be determined easily. Should the orifice of the mixer become obstructed with material too coarse to pass through themythe condition can be detected by means of the abnormally high pressure drop across the cone. With this information, the operator can remove the obstructed cone for cleaning by means of the flanges, 8, without dismantling the entire mixer. In a continuous operation, two mixers may be connected in parallel to be used alternately while one is being cleaned,

In the modified form shown in Fig. 3, the cone mixing elements 22 and 23 are constructed in the same manner as the cones 9 previously described but are differently arranged and differently spaced from the previously described form of mixer. Intermediate the mixing elements Z2 and 23 are aplurality (in this case four) of stationary blade vane mixers designated 24, each of which has four blades, as better illustrated in Fig.4. These vanes are welded around their rims to the interior wall of the pipe 25 and arranged therein in any suitable manner and spacing to provide a swirling action.

In operation of the materials which may, for

I instance, be oil and sulfuric acid, are supplied through the section 2 and the pipe 6 respectively, the treating material in this case, sulfuric acid, a fluid being im'ected into the center of the stream of oil. This starts the mixing which continues as the two fluids pass on through the perforated cones or screens 9 through the several sections 3, 4 and 5, so that a homogeneous and intimate mixing and contacting between the particles of each liquid is obtained. The liquids passing through each opening in each cone, jet into the body of mixture between cones and thereby cause a very thorough mixing and contacting action. If desired, any greater or lesser number of cones or sections may be used and it is a very simple matter with the construction illustrated to remove and replace any section for cleaning or repair or replacement. Furthermore should it happen that three mixing sections are found insuflicient to give the required mixing -or contacting, it is a very easy matter to add additional sections.

I have found that a plurality of orifice plates succeeding one another provides much more perfect mixing than one plate, regardless of its efficiency. This is due to the fact that where two immiscible liquids are brought I together, they'tend to stratify and passthrough separate sections of the orifice plates." The incomplete mixture formed by the first plate can then be thoroughly disintegrated by the succeeding plates. For this reason I sometimes prefer to employ larger orifice holes in the first plate whose function is principally to produce a coarse dispersion, making the succeeding plates with increasinglysmaller and/or fewer holes to provide higher orifice velocities, Thus Ieifect an economy in the operation of the mixer by reducing the pressure drop on the first plate, the efficiency of which will generally be low anyway.

In this case the sections will not be strictly in terchangeable.

The mixer illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 operates in a manner very similar to the manner of operation of the mixer previously described, although it may not be, under some conditions and circumstances, quite as efficient as a mixer utilizing three or more cones. The vanes 24 cause the fluids to swirl about in a helical path as they flow through between the cones and together with the cones provide a homogeneous and thorough intermingling of the treating material with the material being treated.

While I have illustrated and described two forms of my invention, it should be understood that it is susceptible of many other modifications and arrangements without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mixer for petroleum oil refining comprising, :a plurality of relatively short lengths of pipe, means for detachably connecting said lengths together in fluid-tight relation, a sheet metal element of cone shape secured in each length of pipe and coincident with the axes of said pipes, said sheet metal elements having a plurality oi spaced openings through the walls thereof, a plurality of small pipes, one small pipe opening into each of said pipe lengths, a small pipe providing a manifold and connected with each of the small pipes opening into said pipe lengths, a pressure gauge connection on said manifold, and a valve between each pipe length and said pressure gauge connection.

2. A mixer for petroleum oil refining comprising, a plurality of relatively short tubular members, means for detachably connecting said tubular members together in fluid-tight relation, a foraminous member disposed in each of said tubular members with the axes of said foraminous members substantially coincident with the axes of said tubular members, a plurality of small conduits, one small conduit, opening .into each of saidtubularmembers, a small conduit providing a manifold and connected with each of the small conduits opening into said tubular members, a pressure gauge connection on said manifold, and a cut-off means between each tubular member and said pressure gauge connection. I

3. A mixer for petroleum oil refining comprising, a plurality of tubular members, connecting means on the end of said tubular members, a foraminous member disposed at each end of one of said tubular members with the axes of said foraminous member substantially coincident with the axis of the tubular member, a conduit connected to said tubular member at places upstream and downstream with respect to the foraminous members for determining the pressure drop between said places, and means for introducing a fluid into the center of one of the tubular members.

4. A mixer for petroleum oil refining comprising, a plurality of tubular members, connecting means on the end of said tubular members, a foraminous member disposed ateach end of one of said tubular members with the axes of said foraminous members substantially coincident with the axis of the tubular member, a vane disposed between said foraminousmembers, a conduit connected to said tubular member at places upstream and downstream with respect to the foraminous members for determiningthe pressure drop between said places, and means for introducing a fluid into the center of one of said tubular members.

5. An apparatus for mixing petroleum materials of the character described comprising; means for introducing one material into the center of a flowing stream of a second material; a tubular pipe member for receiving the flowing materials; a hollow, irusto-conical member having a plurality of openings in the walls thereof disposed in said pipe member and secured by the rim of its base to said pipe member; and the end of said frusto-conical member being imperforate and a mixing vane disposed across the tubular pipe member adjacent the frusto-conical member.

6. A fluid mixer for petroleum liquids comprising a plurality of independent tubular members, means for detachably connecting said members together in fluid tight relation, 2. hollow cone-shaped member having a plurality of openings through the conical walls thereof disposed and secured in each of said tubular members, the axes of said cones being substantially coincident with the axes of the respective tubular members, means disposed up-stream with respect to at least one of the conical members for introducing material into the center of a flowing stream of a second material, and means connected to and between two of said tubular members at places up-stream and down-stream with respect to at least one of said conical members for determining the pressure drop between said places.

CYRIL L. ERICKSON. 

